Your e-mails, your comments and your testimony persuaded the Madison Common Council to do the right thing and recompense Police Chief Koval for all of the $21,953 he ran up defending himself against laughably frivolous charges that he called someone acting like a raging lunatic “a raging lunatic.”

Alds. Hall, Kemble, Baldeh, and Carter voted to stiff the chief

Incredibly, the vote was 15-4 to do the right thing. (With no room to spare. It needed 3/4ths of the council.) Who are the four hard-core haters? Say hello to Alds. Amanda Hall, Rebecca Kemble, Samba Baldeh, and Sheri Carter. (Ledell Zellers was absent.) Even Marsha Rummel voted aye!

The 15-4 vote is a small repudiation of the anti-police vendetta. A U-turn from two years of cop-bashing. If the Council had dunned Koval $6,352 as Kemble and Hall had proposed, it would encourage Progressive Dane and BLM to gin up more pettifoggery in their war of attrition. That a mere and accurate phrase, “She’s a raging lunatic,” could trigger months of quasi-judicial inquiry and political debate is Kafka-esque. An absurdity!

The people said “no more.” Ald. Matt Phair acknowledged that the vote would be seen as a referendum on police.

“As we heard tonight and heard from many e-mails Many members of the public are viewing this as a referendum on the chief. … Even though we can say it is not that, it will be perceived that way. A number of members of the public will perceive this as not supporting the chief.”

A good gaggle of citizens showed up at the chambers to use their three minutes to support Chief Koval — seven by my count, with an eighth registering in support but not speaking. That matched the usual suspects: Amelia and Nathan Royko-Mauer, Gregory Gobbledygook, and company.

Squire Blaska noted that “if you penalize Koval, you penalize the 450 sworn officers. Police Union leader Dan Frei told WIBA on Friday the police is 100% behind the chief.’ … So NOW you are talking about crime? For the last two years, you have been investigating the police.”

The irony, of course, is that the Council treated itself to a “What is to be Done?” gabfest on gun violence Tuesday night after two citywide shooting sprees in the last few days. Hello? Anybody home?

Righteous indignation

Richard Freyhoefer (hope I’ve spelled it right) gave the best talk. He was passionate:

“Our police chief is a gem. … We’re losing our town. I listen to the news: Shots fired, shots fired, people mugged on Sherman Avenue. … the average citizen is tired of it. … You can’t even get people off the intersections where they are begging? … How hard is it to pass something to clean this mess up and give us our downtown back?”

In the overlong debate, Ald. Mo Cheeks played his usual kumbaya: “It is essential for those who, for whatever reason, consider themselves to be the cheerleaders of the police chief, the folks who have sent us e-mail, that there isn’t an ‘us versus them.’ … So much of the conversation directed toward us was framed in the spirit of faction.”

Except, Alder Cheeks, for two years this council has been hectoring the police more assiduously than did the grieving grandma Sharon Irwin stalking Chief Koval down those city hall stairs. For two years it has allowed the Black Lives narrative stand: that being that Madison police are blood-thirsty, shoot-first racists.

You cannot name the alder who has stood with the police, save for Ald. Paul Skidmore. One out of 20!

For extra credit — Doesn’t anyone on the Madison Common Council know parliamentary procedure? Ald Rummel, you chaired the meeting. After all these years on the council you must know that an alderman “calling the question” is meaningless without a second, in which case it takes 2/3ds vote because what you are doing is shutting off debate.

Sit through 4 hours of Madness? Kevs, be Kool! Gimme some credit, dude! I signed up for the early speaking slot, didn’t bother to give an excuse as to why I should be so accommodated, said my piece and made haste for the exits. Did watch much of the rest from home on City Cable with a nice glass of chianti and some fava beans. Reviewed the tape this morning and made up the rest.

I’m immensely pleased to learn the ninnies on the Council have finally approved your legal fees. The Council’s conduct would be a joke were it not for the numbing reality of how political progressives operate today. You hang in there, Chief; in my estimation it’s a thankless task and you’re doing a helluva job.

I still think a “real live” sergeant at arms in the Council chambers and its environs would prevent future conflicts from morphing into nearly year-long disputes. The Council could hire said person. They need not carry a gun; they should look official and carry a badge. They would maintain order during Council meetings.

This person would forestall and prevent good people like Koval from being harangued again. Free speech? Of course. Verbal batterings bordering on disorderly conduct? No more.

Our friends on the left don’t fight fair. Ask Charles Murray and that faculty person at Middlebury College.

Asking for a friend

Mike Huckabee asks: What would a federal judge do if Jim Acosta challenged him in his courtroom, argued and refused to give up the microphone when a bailiff tried to retrieve it?

Unmet needs?

‘Got anything for us?’

MidTown 8:25 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 18 — Officers met with a victim (26-year-old AAM) who reported being approached by two AAMs, one AAF and one WF (possibly all juveniles) as he was waiting for a bus. The victim stated the “juveniles” asked him if he had anything for them. The victim said he referred to them as “kids” which caused the two AAM’s to batter him. The suspects fled. The victim sustained visible injuries, including a chipped tooth.

Someone (could) DID get hurt like this!

11:35 p.m. Nov. 17 — A Fitchburg police officer spotted a Subaru Forrester that was listed as stolen through MPD. The vehicle took off when a stop was initiated. The vehicle ended up crashing into an unoccupied house near Allied Dr, located within the City of Madison. The house sustained heavy damage and the vehicle was totaled. All three occupants were transported to the hospital.

The suspect driver was a 16-year-old AAM, whose injuries were unknown at the time of this entry. A 14-year-old AAF passenger sustained a broken arm. A 14-year-old AAM passenger had a fractured/dislocated hip and will be admitted for surgery. Fitchburg PD took the vehicle for evidence in their investigation and MPD took the crash investigation.

Even MORE school-to-prison at La Follette H.S.

Friday’s Disturbance — 3:44 pm. Nov. 16 — The La Follette High School Educational Resource Officer was outside monitoring students when a suspect (30-year-old AAF) began yelling threats from the street at school staff. The suspect’s daughter (14-year-old AAF) threw a water bottle at a group of students in front of the school and then fled with her mother in a vehicle. Officers performed a traffic stop on the vehicle and while officers attempted to detain the suspects, an additional passenger/suspect (16-year-old AAF) was arrested for interfering. The 30-year-old suspect was conveyed to the Dane County Jail while the teenagers were cited for disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.

Tuesday’s disturbance — 9:55 a.m. Nov. 13 — School Resource Officer (SRO) at La Follette High School asked for additional resources as a disturbance was breaking out in the commons area of the school.